Mists of Pandaria: Death Knight Class Preview

Today's class preview covers Death Knight. Tier armor was changed slightly since we last previewed it, and there are several mechanics changes and additions, such as a 1 sec base GCD and Soul Reaper. There are also some fun cosmetic glyphs and Corpse Explosion is back.

Unholy Blight: (Level 15 talent, 1.5 min cd) A vile swarm of unholy insects surrounds the caster for a 10 yard radius. All enemies caught in the swarm take 860 damage per sec and are plagued with a disease that can stack up to 3 times. Lasts for 1 sec per 10 runic power.

Soul Reaper: Strikes an enemy for 100% weapon damage and afflicts the target with Soul Reaper. After 5 sec, if the target is below 35% health, this effect will deal 46114 to 53590 additional Shadow damage. If the enemy dies before this effect triggers, the Death Knight gains 50% haste for 10 sec.

Level 87 class ability: Soul Reaper. Deals heavy Shadow damage if the target is below 35% health upon expiration. If the target dies while this effect is present, the Death Knight gains 50% haste for 10 sec.

Control Undead: Dominates the target undead creature, forcing it to do your bidding. While controlled, the time between the undead minion's attacks is increased by 30% and its casting speed is slowed by 20%. Lasts up to 5 min.

The base GCD is now 1 second. Formerly, this was attainable only with the old Unholy Presence.

Death Pact is now a talent and somewhat buffed. Drain vitality from an undead minion, healing the Death Knight for 50% of his maximum health and causing the minion to suffer damage equal to 50% of its maximum health.

Frost Changes:

Frost Presence increases Runic Power generation by 20%, and reducing the duration of effects that remove control of your character by 20%. Improved Frost Presence also reduces the cost of Frost Strike by 15 Runic Power.

Comments

Comment by Rankkor

on 2012-08-27T16:31:53-05:00

Unholy Blight(Level 15 talent, 1.5 min cd) A vile swarm of unholy insects surrounds the caster for a 10 yard radius. All enemies caught in the swarm take 860 damage per sec and are plagued with a disease that can stack up to 3 times. Lasts for 1 sec per 10 runic power.

This is just mean T_T When I read that, initially I actually believed they had given us the ORIGINAL Unholy Blight, instead of that crappy "in name only" imitation.

Then I check the talent calculator, and find out that no, we don't get the original unholy blight, we get the crappy "in name only"

Not cool perc, NOT COOL. Way to get my hopes up for nothing T_T

Comment by elionor

on 2012-08-27T17:38:19-05:00

wth is this paladins are the only plate wearer class who wear robes and at least they have a caster spec death knights are pure warriors

Comment by elionor

on 2012-08-27T18:08:37-05:00

Ohhhh stop your crying. How hard is it to transmog the chestpeice? The starter gear for Death Knights consist of a kilt/robe too you know. :P

thats the traditional zealot gear we are no longer noobs fresh out of training camp

Comment by Rankkor

on 2012-08-27T19:15:30-05:00

wth is this paladins are the only plate wearer class who wear robes and at least they have a caster spec death knights are pure warriors

not quite. Both Dks and Pallys mix spellcasting with melee prowess to fight.

Given that A LOT of the arsenal of a Dk consists of spells (Death Coil, Howling Blast, Blood Boil, Frost Fever, Blood Plague, Pestilence, remorseless winter, death grip, chains of ice, control undead, Icy Touch, Death & Decay, strangulate, mind freeze, hungering cold, ebon plague, anti-magic zone/shell, Lichborn, ect) then calling us "pure warriors" seems to be a little off don't you think?

Comment by Sarydus

on 2012-08-27T20:12:49-05:00

wth is this paladins are the only plate wearer class who wear robes and at least they have a caster spec death knights are pure warriors

If Death Knights were pure warriors, then I'd be playing...well, a warrior. The whole reason I picked up the Death Knight class in the first place was so I could have someone who carried a big sword and cast spells without having to be a crusader of the holy light. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for death knights to get a second robe.

That said, I kinda hope they have an alternative breastplate without the robe, like a boss drop or something. Druids were given that option in early cata, I'd like it if this dk tier got the same treatment.

Comment by zomg5

on 2012-08-27T23:20:54-05:00

crying about a dress, then wtf is their starter gear i dont see anyone complaining about them in fact people use them for transmogging

Comment by Keelerak

on 2012-08-28T02:31:49-05:00

I wouldn't really mind the look of the skirt, but it's really not fitting DKs. Spellcasters (including healing Paladins) can wear robes, they are light and improve movement, it makes sense, but it's really not a fitting equipment for heavily armored melee combatant. Is the "skirt" made of cloth? It's not a good protection for someone getting his ass kicked by enemies' swords then. Is it made of metal? I'd like to see how is one supposed to dodge attacks in metal skirt... is it even possible?

Comment by CrimsonPut

on 2012-08-28T04:27:49-05:00

I wouldn't really mind the look of the skirt, but it's really not fitting DKs. Spellcasters (including healing Paladins) can wear robes, they are light and improve movement, it makes sense, but it's really not a fitting equipment for heavily armored melee combatant. Is the "skirt" made of cloth? It's not a good protection for someone getting his ass kicked by enemies' swords then. Is it made of metal? I'd like to see how is one supposed to dodge attacks in metal skirt... is it even possible?

I'd like to see how one can be raised from the dead and made into a death knight.

Comment by Awesomknight

on 2012-08-28T07:49:49-05:00

A dress? What is this- I don't even...? What are we now, sissy-emo paladins? This is a travesty! I mean, it's not like we can utilize an in-game feature that changes our armor to look like a different set of armor for a negligible fee, or anything!

But seriously, Blizz Art Dep. Never sully the Death Knight image with a dress ever again. Ever.

Also, the standard GCD is 1 second. Old UnhPres reduced it by half. I'm also looking forward to the new Unholy Blight. With it and Outbreak, I'll never have to use Unholy runes on Plague Strike ever again (in theory- I'm 2h Frost, obviously).

Comment by Awesomknight

on 2012-08-28T08:11:20-05:00

wth is this paladins are the only plate wearer class who wear robes and at least they have a caster spec death knights are pure warriors

If Death Knights were pure warriors, then I'd be playing...well, a warrior. The whole reason I picked up the Death Knight class in the first place was so I could have someone who carried a big sword and cast spells without having to be a crusader of the holy light. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for death knights to get a second robe.

That said, I kinda hope they have an alternative breastplate without the robe, like a boss drop or something. Druids were given that option in early cata, I'd like it if this dk tier got the same treatment.

You're both going about it the wrong way. Someone above said that the robes remind them of a lich, and their observation is solid. It does look like something a lich would wear, which is why it's not for World of Warcraft's Death Knights. It would work for the ones from Warcraft II, because they were nothing more than spellcasters. Death Knights in WoW are not "pure warriors", but they are 90% melee. They don't actually cast spells (casting here being defined as standing still and building up for a few seconds to use a spell- Channeling Army does not count). It's melee weapon swings intermingled with the occasional instant-spell. So, the argument shouldn't be "Death Knights shouldn't wear robes because they're warriors," it should be, "Death Knights shouldn't wear robes because they're not undead wizards."

I have always been against Pally dresses, even for Holy. I don't like the idea of a heavy-melee fighter wearing a robe. I can't really tolerate any melee fighter wearing anything more than a skirt/kilt/what have you. It just doesn't look right when you're actually playing the game. So if you're like me, I've got one word for ya: Transmogrification.

Comment by Taenamyr

on 2012-08-28T09:07:56-05:00

lol it's about time

Comment by WaraeDK

on 2012-08-28T10:52:31-05:00

Very excited for the changes and FINALLY a PvP AND PvE set that both look AWESOME! The Changes to Blood DKs look amazing as well! Can't wait! xD

Comment by Keelerak

on 2012-08-28T11:14:09-05:00

I wouldn't really mind the look of the skirt, but it's really not fitting DKs. Spellcasters (including healing Paladins) can wear robes, they are light and improve movement, it makes sense, but it's really not a fitting equipment for heavily armored melee combatant. Is the "skirt" made of cloth? It's not a good protection for someone getting his ass kicked by enemies' swords then. Is it made of metal? I'd like to see how is one supposed to dodge attacks in metal skirt... is it even possible?

I'd like to see how one can be raised from the dead and made into a death knight.

That's something completely different. Sure, some laws of physics are different in fantasy world than IRL, but so far weight and flexibility of metals is not so different in wow (it is not different in any universe, because if someone wants a flexible material in their fiction, they won't call it "metal").

Comment by srharter

on 2012-08-28T11:45:57-05:00

FINALLY - Undead players can now have a proper looking skull face.

Comment by SiegaPlays

on 2012-08-28T20:44:01-05:00

Please tell me my death knight doesn't have to wear a dress.

Allright., you death knight doesn't have to wear a dress. The challenge mode gear looks "manly" enough, so man up, get it, and cover it in enough blood to not show how... sparkly... it is :-)

Comment by bloodglas

on 2012-09-02T18:37:09-05:00

Well, another tier set I'll have transmogged over, nbd. Good for anyone that likes wearing robes but frankly I think plate robes is one of the worst things Blizz can keep putting into WoW. Maybe give us a choice between robe or not? Too much to ask? I actually liked this set before I saw the skirt. Like the challenge set too, though I hoped they'd have used the green coloring of it.

Disappointed that, like with 2/3 of the lvl 80 - 85 abilities that came with cata, lvl 90 talents are mostly useless if you're not PvPing. RW might see use on adds or trash? DG for a fear bomb a là Blood-Queen? Don't remember the last time we've had something like that. GG to help a tank with adds? I also remember them (DG at least) dealing damage as well. Removed for PvP reasons I'm guessing.

Glyphs are a bit lack-luster imo, when comparing cosmetic ones to what some other classes got. My geist makes up for a lot of things that I don't like, though. He's just too darn cute.

Comment by CrimsonPut

on 2012-09-02T21:07:53-05:00

I wouldn't really mind the look of the skirt, but it's really not fitting DKs. Spellcasters (including healing Paladins) can wear robes, they are light and improve movement, it makes sense, but it's really not a fitting equipment for heavily armored melee combatant. Is the "skirt" made of cloth? It's not a good protection for someone getting his ass kicked by enemies' swords then. Is it made of metal? I'd like to see how is one supposed to dodge attacks in metal skirt... is it even possible?

I'd like to see how one can be raised from the dead and made into a death knight.

That's something completely different. Sure, some laws of physics are different in fantasy world than IRL, but so far weight and flexibility of metals is not so different in wow (it is not different in any universe, because if someone wants a flexible material in their fiction, they won't call it "metal").

Savage Cobalt Slicer Says 'hi'. A giant one handed sword larger than a lot of two handers. Azeroth and Outland are worlds of great magic, blacksmiths have the ability to make armor that increases the strength of a person, their ability to shrug off lethal blows, and make their spells more potent; I'd say it's not beyond the realm of belief that they can also fasten sheets of metal together to make an armor plated kilt.

You should also reexamine your post there because you're completely contradicting yourself.

Comment by Milknuts

on 2012-09-09T15:37:00-05:00

Normal PvE set + Armageddon from Naxx25 are the main ingredients in AwesomeSauce. Just sayin.

Also, can we get some useful talents in the last tier? I mean really, the only "crowd-control" dk's do is blowing *!@# apart, or tanking it so someone else blows it up. Don't try to change that with a recycled/reworked talent or a slow acting frost nova. I bet 99% of dk's get GG...just...you know...because it isn't completely useless.

Comment by Griffter

on 2012-09-09T17:21:05-05:00

It's funny, I didn't even notice the robes. I was more concerned with how paladin-ish the challenge mode set looks. Strange choice there.